outstand

American  

[out-stand] / ˌaʊtˈstænd /

verb (used without object)

outstood, outstanding

1. to be prominent.

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verb (used with object)

outstood, outstanding

1. to stay or remain beyond.

   to outstand the hour.

outstand British  

/ ˌaʊtˈstænd /

verb

1. (intr) to be outstanding or excel

2. (intr) nautical to stand out to sea

3. archaic (tr) to last beyond

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Usage

What does outstand mean? To outstand is to stay or remain beyond, as in Mattie outstood the rain during the long hike and managed to reach the end. To outstand is also to be prominent or surpassing. When you outstand someone else, you are more prominent, conspicuous, or striking than the other person (go, you!). You might outstand someone in terms of social status, physical size, beauty, charisma, or anything else you might compare people about. Example: Mateo really outstood at the competition tonight.

Etymology

Origin of outstand

First recorded in 1565–75; out- + stand

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outstand outstanding outstood

Bad press notices and the lack of any outstand ing talent other than Clark & McCullough put Here Goes the Bride into the past tense.

From Time Magazine Archive

Would the foundations of the house outstand it?

From Sir Gibbie by George MacDonald

And there is no obvious replacement on the 40-man roster pushing for a call-up through an extended period of outstanding play.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Castro, who has an outstanding warrant in Minnesota for this case, could not be reached for comment.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2026

Earlier in the week, Carney criticized taunting of Canada by U.S. officials, and said it was not constructive toward resolving outstanding trade issues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

More than 600 employers were ordered to pay affected workers the outstanding wages, with £4m returned to workers, according to the Department for Business and Trade.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Johnny White was the number two man in Tom Bolles’s outstanding freshman boat that year.

From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown

This was most unjust, for Cadet Wilson outstood in baseball and lacrosse as well as football.

From Time Magazine Archive

The fig-tree here mentioned was blessed with the application of means, had time allowed it to receive the nourishment; but it outstood, withstood, overstood all, all that the husbandman did, all that the vine-dresser did.

From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by John Bunyan

They have outstood centuries of raging storm and rending earthquake.

From The Splendid Idle Forties Stories of Old California by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton

I have outstood my time; which is material To the tender of our present.

From Cymbeline by William Shakespeare